Participation in youth sports in general, and in youth
football in particular, is on the decline in some parts of the nation. One of the biggest factors driving the
decline is a concern about injuries.

Lots of youth sports programs say they
want to improve safety, but how many are actually making the effort to
implement best health and safety practices?

Lots of youth sports programs say they want to improve safety, but how many are actually making the effort to implement best health and safety practices? I can't speak for every program, but I know one that is definitely walking the talk: the youth tackle and flag football and cheer program in Grand Prairie, Texas, where I spent the first week of August educating and training kids, parents, coaches, and administrators on ways to make football safer as part of MomsTEAM Institute's SmartTeams| UNICEF International Safeguards of Children in Sports project.

If you are
involved in a private youth sports program which plays on publicly-owned
fields, diamonds, rinks, or courts, or are in local government, you have
probably been hearing a lot lately about what is being dubbed the "power
of the permit": the authority municipalities and towns around the country
are using to condition use of their athletic facilities by private programs on
compliance with state concussion safety laws from which they would otherwise be
exempt, or, in an increasing number of instances, to fill gaps in their state's
law.

A growing number of municipalities are using the power of the permit to require private sports programs to comply with state-mandated concussion safety laws, or impose additional conditions beyond those required by state law, but, as MomsTEAM Institute Executive Director explains, it isn't an isolated or new phenomenon. It's been a growing trend for years.

On July 15, the NCAA and Department of Defense (DOD) announced the selection of MomsTeam Youth Sports Safety Institute as a recipient of a Mind Matters Challenge grant for our application, Creating a Safe Concussion Reporting Environment: A Multi-Media Approach.

The NCAA and Department of Defense (DOD) have selected MomsTeam Youth Sports Safety Institute as one of six winners of a Mind Matters Challenge grant for our application, Creating a Safe Concussion Reporting Environment: A Multi-Media Approach.

One of my biggest gripes about the media in the age of Twitter and ever-shorter attention spans is that it doesn't lend itself well to an examination of issues in the depth they deserve.

Recently, I was asked a series of questions by a newspaper journalist for a story on a concussed athlete who had decided to quit football despite being cleared by the team doctor to return to play.

Even though I knew that 95% of what I said in my emailed response would never make it into the story, I nevertheless spent the time formulating thoughtful responses, hoping that at least some of what I offered would avoid the cutting room floor.

One of the things that MomsTEAM Founder Brooke de Lench finds most frustrating about the media in the age of Twitter and ever-shorter attention spans is that it doesn't lend itself well to an examination of issues in the depth they deserve. Here's a case in point.

If you've been watching the FIFA Women's World Cup, you may have noticed that the head coaches of most of the 24 national teams competing in Canada are men. In fact, only seven teams (the USA, Ecuador, Germany, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Sweden, and Ivory Coast) are led by female head coaches.

While that number is five more than when I watched from the stands at Giants Stadium as the U.S. played Mexico in the 1999 Women's World Cup, it is still a distressingly low number.

If you've been watching the FIFA Women's World Cup, you may have noticed that the head coaches of most of the 24 national teams competing in Canada are men, a gender imbalance that persists despite what some believe to be natural advantages women enjoy over men as coaches.

The story which broke this morning in The New York Times that nine present or former high-ranking members of FIFA, soccer's global governing body, had been arrested in Zurich, Switzerland after being indicted on corruption charges in the U.S., didn't surprise me in the least.

While the FIFA scandal has made national headlines, allegations of embezzlement and theft in sports organizations, large and small, are an almost every-day occurrence in cities and towns across America.

The new that nine present or former high-ranking members of FIFA, soccer's global governing body, had been arrested in Zurich, Switzerland after being indicted on corruption charges in the U.S., didn't surprise MomsTEAM's Executive Director in the least. While the FIFA scandal has made national headlines, allegations of embezzlement and theft in sports organizations, large and small, are an almost every-day occurrence in cities and towns across America.

Ask the average person what special day is celebrated in May, and most will say Mother's Day. Ask sports fans who athletes most often thank when they are interviewed on television after a big win, and they are most are likely to say their moms. Now, ask someone in what month does the country celebrate National Sports Moms Month, and I bet you would be met with a lot of quizzical looks.

Fact is that there hasn't been such a month, at least one that I could find. So, in 2012, I decided to declare May to be Sports Moms Month.

Six years ago, MomsTEAM's founder decided that sports moms should be celebrated, not just on Mother's Day, but for an entire month, so she declared May to be Sports Moms Month. Here's why.

Although April - which was both National Youth Sports Safety Month and National Child Abuse Prevention Month - is now over, it doesn't mean that the work of parents in helping keep kids safer playing sports is over.

The debate over whether helmets should be mandated in girl's lacrosse, which has been raging for several years, reached a new level of ferocity recently with the publication of a blistering piece in the New York Times reporting on the backlash generated by the controversial decision by the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) to mandate a soft form of headgear for everyone in a girls' lacrosse game beginning this spring season.

The debate over whether helmets should be mandated in girl's lacrosse reached a new level of ferocity recently with the publication of a blistering piece in the New York Times reporting on the backlash generated by the controversial decision by the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) to mandate a soft form of headgear for everyone in a girls' lacrosse game beginning this spring season.

People often ask me often what I think the most important piece of safety equipment is for a particular sport. I know I catch them off guard when, instead of saying a helmet, mouth guard, shin guard, or safety goggles (all of which are very important, of course), I say that it is best-made and best-fitting pair of shoes and socks which are the critical to a successful day of activities.

In honor of April as National Foot Health Awareness Month, Executive Director Brooke de Lench talks about the importance of socks and welcomes a new corporate underwriter and sponsor, Thorlo Socks.